Washington Post Wins Four Pulitzers

3rd paragraph, second sentence, "complicated"

And about Dick Cheney "when he work a parka" - should be "when he wore a parka".

Congrats all!

Givhan also did this nifty take on Condoleezza Rice's slit-skirt-with-boots number.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51640-2005Feb24.html

It says a lot about the atmosphere, the work ethic, the integrity of the editors and publisher to win 4 awards.

Congratulations to everyone at the Post and particularly the individual winners.

oops.

Oh, big news: My friend Geraldine Brooks won the P for her novel "March." She's a terrific writer who wrote another historical novel called "Year of Wonders." Check it out. Her triumph indicates that the New York Times book review is not infallible:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/books/review/027MALLON.html?ex=1145419200&en=28906df3b563b72d&ei=5070

Yes, those articles by Givhan are great. She really skewered Cheney (who did look ridiculous and disrespectful), and the article about Rice was interesting...I'm still coming to terms with that a bit...

Actually, the Condeleezza Rice boots article has become sort of a shorthand around the office. Whenever we need somebody to really take charge in a way that borders on Dominance we say they need to put on the "Condeleeza Rice boots."

Clearly, Joel, you simply need to become much more critical.

Couldn't resist reposting to the new boodle on Ol' Bob Levey.

TBG, it was great to see Bob Levey make a fool of himself when he tried to criticize movies... SNORT.

Seriously, I got my REAL name published twice in the Bob Levey column, so I can't really bash him.

I thought his column helped give the Post that hokey hometown paper feel.

Not that nabbing crooked lobbyists isn't important. Or not-a-crook presidents. It's just like... when you pick up the Post and every page is full of reporters swooping off buildings in quest of the Pultizer (or laughs). Where, in comics term, it was KAPOW, BONK, or Zippy's rantings...

I mean, it's not like my neighborhood was infested with crooked lobbyists (although we did have retired CIA) and so on that we had white-collar SWAT teams swooping in all the time.

It was nice to dip into a column that reminded me of Mary Worth and had almost no mention of politics whatsoever.

That said, it's been a few years since Levey retired. Let's see if he's come up with any new ideas. Had blogs been invented before his retirement, he would have been the first, logical WaPo columnist to do blogs. He states he wants to spread words/news about various non-profits in the DC area.

So that right off will scare off the cynical, bitter, selfish bloggers. I look forward to a Mary Worth Blog.

This blog... well, more like a Larry Gonick cartoon-- he's the dude that does "The cartoon history of the universe" with that Weingartensque narrator-- and the erudite science cartoons for various mags.

In a way, Blog Levey's Washinton was the first blog before there were blogs, he had so much reader feedback in his columns.

It will be interesting to see if the Missing Link can compete in this cut-throat cyber-environment, what with only having two fingers to type with.

Bravo Zulu, Joel.

For you land lubbers, that's Navyspeak for "well done". It comes from the days of wooden ships and iron men, a time long before a sailor's head was merely an ipod socket. (Just about the time when 'Mudge was born!) Ships communicated with signal flags. And here you thought that they were just used to decorate your family room.

Rather than laboriously spelling out each and every word, commonly used phrases were reduced to abbreviations published in internationaly used code books. So, the "B" flag hoisted over the "Z" flag meant something like, "Attaboy, bubba" in sailor talk. This phrase still used in Uncle Sam's Navy today.

There, now you learned something. Again, congrats.

Bravo Zulu is not misspelled B S then?

Misspelled BS is what you get from OTHER blogs. WE get the real, genuine, 100-percent-PURE BS.

Congratulations, indeed! Dana Priest and Givhan are two of my favorite Posties, but they are only two of the writers that brighten every day. (Corny, I know, but it's true.)

In fact, I'll be lucky if following the online WaPo, the web chats, and the Post blogs doesn't lead to unemployment!

Probably the committee chose Ms. Brooks's book over Doctorow's because her title was so much more concise.

Congratulations to everyone at the Post!

Don, thanks for that explanation.

My favourite signal flag stories are the two signals at Trafalgar. The first was
the famous "England expects every man to do his duty" put up as the battle approached.

The lesser known second was put up once the battle actually began. Nelson's flagship put up "Engage the enemy more closely" and left it up for the duration of the battle (until it was actually shot away).

kb... you are SO funny. Thanks for the SNORT.

I suppose if the newsroom folks hoisted a glass of champagne in honor of the winners, the winners would be Post Toastees.

Can't help myself.

I'm a big Robin Givhan fan because the subjects are surprising and interesting. Now I'm looking to move up from toady to archivist.

Givhan on Dick Cheney and the pink tie ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR2006021602305_pf.html

Givhan on John Kerry ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25818-2004Jul29.html

Mudge - I think that calls for a round right now.

TBG - looking back at the old boodle. I'm glad you and your husband got a kick out of my old post. It really happened. I am sure more than one Achenblogger spouse can relate.
(Including, at times, I suspect, the Prime Achenspouse..)

Don is essentially correct--signal flags on ships were invented during the 14th century, and a fairly sophisticated and "standard" system was in place by the 16th century. As he said, about the time I was born, but in fact I was there when the first signal flags were used. Perhaps tonight or tomorrow I'll tell that story. In the meantime, I have to run for the bus.

(As every reader of Hornblower, Patrick O'Brian, Marryat, etc., knows, flags were in common use by all navies by the time of the American Revolution. There's a lot of crap on the Internet, though, that would lead one to believe the U.S. or Britain invented signal flags in the 19th century. Jeez. I take extreme umbrage.)

Clearly everyone here would like to see Joel win, and I have no doubt he will one day. I take solace in the fact that he is still young. (A mere infant actually. Still in the full bloom of youth. And a complete year older than me. But I digress.)
I am more concerned about poor Gene Weingarten. I find it shocking that he has not yet been honored. Some of his stuff is, like, epic. A prize for him is overdue. Besides, what might happen if Joel wins first? After that whole “Dave Barry” incident, could poor Gene’s heart it? (Not to mention his other shockingly-vulnerable internal organs.) I mean, the man is brilliant and all, but how many more good years does he really have left in him?
Get of the stick you Pulitzer people.
I’m just saying.

Not widely known — but a verifiable historic fact — is that early bus systems used a complicated system of flag messaging. Routes were described, stops were announced and even the need for transfers, when necessary, were all communicated by the driver, waving various flags as he drove the bus. Bus drivers also waved flags at each other, communicating such messages as "damn, you're really putting out major clouds of diesel" and "get out of my way, ferret face."

It was a colorful time in bus history. But it was obviously an improvement when the flags were set aside for the current system where, in most metropolitan settings, you simply have to know what you are doing.

RD, I note that the ad posted next to the blog is from the Alliance for Aging Research. Very timely considering your post!

Rolling electrical blackouts on the power grid across Texas, San Antonio included. A cool 99 here today, 98 expected for tomorrow.

It likely won't help if I told you, Linda that we had just a skiff of snow here yesterday? I wish you just a tad cooler though. These fierce extremes are just not comfortable and I don't think they are safe.

Loomis, BTW, thanks for your thought-provoking post on the last kit. Did you ever hear more on what happened in Nancy's life to make her do that?

Has anybody ever done any research into the psychology of typographical errors? I wrote the 6:06 post and stared at it for many minutes until I judged it typo-free. Upon a second reading a few hours later I immediately found two painfully obvious errors. Why is this? A think a detailed investigative piece on this phenomenon is needed. Could be a Pulitzer in it.

Padouk, for many years I have held the cast-iron irrevocable opinion that NO ONE, anywhere, any time, in any manner, can effectively copy edit their own work. Can't be done. In 40 years, I've never met anyone who can. (I've met many who *think* they can, but they are wrong.) The reason is simple: when you read it, you don't edit what you see on the page/screen, you edit what you heard in your head when you wrote it. It's that simple--and that difficult.

Attention, boodlers:

It has been brought to my attention by management that someone has parked in Hal the Schemer's reserved parking space near the back door of the blog. Be advised that this is a reserved parking space, and that persons refusing to heed the "Hal the Schemer Only" parking sign may have their vehicles towed, at their own expense.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

/signed/

Curmudgeon, Shop Steward

(Secret P.S.: Way to go, SonofCarl! bc and scottynuke, ya both owe me five bucks. Told ya he'd do it, tole ya, tole ya!)

Congratulations, WashPost, and to the writers. Your day is coming, Joel.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter holiday. Mine was terrific. Grand kids are still here, getting into everything, and making a big mess, but it's okay. Finally got the air conditioning fixed, now the weather has turned a little cool. We've been under a thunderstorm watch, but that has passed. We did get a little rain, not much, but a little. Someone decided to vandalize our cars during the night (Saturday), so when we got up Sunday morning, big surprise. Mine wasn't messed up too bad, but a couple of the cars had windows knocked out, and lights. Someone put a dent in my truck, and tore out the Toyota emblem. I guess the culprit just didn't have anything else to do. Me and the grand kids went to Sunday school, and service. We didn't miss a beat. God is good, and He loves us so much, through His Son, Jesus. Does anyone know what I should do about the incident with my car, we filed a police report, but what do I do next? Out of all the cars at this complex, only four of us (African-American females) had damage. Brand new truck parked beside my car, didn't have a scratch!

Mudge, you know I'm not a welcher on bets, but for some reason I cannot recall the nature of our wager.

bc

Mudge - I believe you are quite right about copy editting. Further, the more one revises the worse it seems to get. I suspect there is some undiscovered conservation law at work.

Cassandra, hopefully the police came to take your statement, and that of your neighbors, and noticed they should have some sort of "hate crime alert" in your area. Then again, it would be nice if it was just a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences, though.

Joel, going back a couple of kits, I'm glad to know men have to put on the "working dad woes" for other guys. We working moms do it for other women, too, especially those without kids, to warn them off the motherhood trail. It's our own population control method.

And one more, from before. We don't hunt for eggs in my family, and this year my kids, the only grandkids so far, were finally old enough to search for the afikomen. For the first time in my life I understood that "searching for the afikomen" was code for adults to take a ten minute break from preparing and conducting the seder to enjoy a cup of coffee while the kids find all the puzzle pieces they've lost over the past year.

Congrats to all the P-winners, all very deserving.

-beacantor

From the boodler formerly known as nelson:

robin givhan I like very much (at least I like her columns -- I've never met her).

Cheney in pink. Thanks for the link Bayou self.

Many years ago, when I still worked for a living I was at a fundraiser for Jack Brooks, then chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Patricia Schroeder (yes, I'm back to Pat again) walked by me in a hot, hot pink suit. She glowed in the cave-like lighting of whatever hotel reception room was being used for this particular fundraiser.

As a woman who avoided pink like the plague -- I thought it was a sissy color -- I was bowled over. Here was one of the most powerful women in Congress (she chaired the Armed Services Committee at the time) wearing day-glo pink.

And she looked fabulous! She was definitely making a statement about power and femininity not being mutually exclusive.

I wear pink now.

Oh yeah, and I love Dana Priest's work too. I'm thrilled she was recognized.

The two stories that have the Bush administration in knots over who leaked the goods, the secret prisons and the NSA spying, both won pulitzers for the authors.

I anticipate another attack on the liberal MSM -- aiding and abetting the terrorists.

regarding proofreading...The brain will only "read" the first and last letters of many words and fill in the blank from an "expected outcome" point of view, so the middle portion could be completely mangled, and often nobody notices.

I know I read it somewhere, but I've been googling and can't find the research. Sorry.

Cassandra, sorry to hear about the vandalism. That happens sometimes in my neighborhood. One time my car which was parked in the street had gang-type graffiti written on it. Luckily it came off. The police took a report and said it would be handled as a hate crime, but we never heard any more about it, or had anything else happen.

sln, I admire Pat Schroeder so much. She had guts, was articulate - I wish she were still active in politics (maybe she's doing lots behind the scenes and I don't know about it).

On the copy editing - I've seen examples of paragraphs where only the first and last letters of words are correct and it's still quite readable. I'm one of those people who edits in my head before I write, so I find it very difficult to actually put any words on paper. Usually I'm pretty good at finding typos (the boodle being the obvious exception!). But I agree, it's very difficult to proof your own work, especially for clarity. I took some online college courses where they demanded papers of a certain length, and it was excrutiating for me - I started to use adverbs promiscuously.

Speaking of lousy self-copyediting, I had half a mind to put up a blog item this evening.

Unfortunately, as they say, here it is:

http://www.10thcircle.com/10/?cat=4

bc

No matter how bad the editorial judgement of the paper gets I keep coming back for the reporters. Congratulations.

Congratulations Joel!
If you get a chance please walk down the hall and give my buddy, Mark, a pat on the back for the honorary pleasure of receiving Employee of the Year at WashingtonPost.com. I hear the WashPost gives out a nice plaque, but no bonus.
I did 10 hard years as a foot soldiers for the Washington Post back in the late 70's and 80's when my customers enjoyed doorstep delivery. That is all except for the 3 houses on my route that had a Mercedes parked in the garage. I just could never get a tip from them, not even at Christmas. It's been over 20 years and 4 kids later since I've taken aim at a porch armed with the Post, but once or twice a year I'll meet someone at a Mall or craft show and we'll start a conversation like we were next door neighbors. My wife will give me a funny look, then she'll get the explanation, "He was my paperboy."
So here is my applause for all those who work for the Post:
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Job well done.
To maintain my political correctness, I'll strike the word "WashRag" from my vocabulary. Hopefully it'll make it through the wirty dird filter.

Congratulations to the Post!

Richard Cohen kicks off Global Warming Tuesday with his op-ed piece, A Campaign Gore Can't Lose:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701259.html

Cassandra, I'm right there with you- my car has been vandalized twice in the past three weeks, first with a rock right through the window (pure malice, nothing to steal.) Two days after I got it back from being repaired, someone backed it while I was parked, leaving a huge dent in my door, but no note, of course. Just a whole lot of bad Car-ma going on.

Why hasn't Colbert King gotten a Pulitzer?

Interesting column on Gore. I don't know if I'd vote for him, though. I would have, the first time, but I wasn't a citizen yet.

One correction. Polar bears don't climb on ice flows. They climb on ice floes. Back to proofreading. The worse mistakes are the ones the spell checker on the computer doesn't catch, or fixes with the wrong word.

I really do recall Givhan on Cheney being dressed to blow snow. And this in a White House where the President always wears a spiffy suit when getting off the helicopter from Camp David on Sunday afternoon. I guess the dress codes don't matter off the White House grounds.

speaking of Pat Schroeder, I loved this book of hers:

24 Years of Housework...and the Place Is Still a Mess: My Life in Politics

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0836237072/sr=8-4/qid=1145366163/ref=sr_1_4/002-0346589-5517620?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Since I first read that article on Cheney's dress code faux pas, I've wondered about it. Who takes care of getting his clothing ready to go on the road? I should imagine that there is a set of suitable stuff packed all the time, ready for whatever arises, and I have to wonder if some poor assistant out there is suffering the tortures of the damned because they forgot to add a proper overcoat.

Cassandra, awful about your vehicle. I've been lucky but some of my sons have had stuff happen like that. It goes right back to being a good neighbour, and not coveting other peoples stuff.

This is the first time I've ever felt sympathy for the VP. In Wyoming they know how to dress for cold weather, the kind of cold weather that can kill you. One of you history buffs, which President was it who dressed inadequately for his inauguration and died soon after? Cheney has serious health issues, and staying alive is more important than making a fashion statement. It is a typical nerd mistake, to do the practical thing and then be ridiculed for it. Achenbloggers should be able to relate to this.

Colbert King has won a Pulitzer for his commentary. I believe it was either 2002 or 2003. It was the same year that Stephen Hunter won for criticism.

Yeah, but you can be warm and still look appropriate, and not like Nanook of the North. My theory goes along with dr's--some staffer definitely packed the wrong bag.

sln (nelson) your places will be held at the EH academy. As discussed, it is customary to receive a Peeps-Level donation to our endowment fund per child.
Rest assured that all children mentioned in your post have been added to our advanced enrollment program.

Givhan specializes in giving shallow and snarky comments on politicians and the famous. I have to say that it disapoints me that that kind of shallow journalism won the Pulizer while no note was made of your more substantial and well-considered commentary, Joel. Oh well, I suppose mean spiritedness is what passes for wit these days, sells papers and wins Pulizer Prizes.

Going to the ceremony wearing a parka was as disrespectful as going to mass in pasties. Maybe I say this just because my grandfather's family died en route to Ravensbruck. Even nerds know to be respectful. I should know that.

kbertocci: I think the answer to your question is William Henry Harrison.

md, have to disagree with you there. I'm fashion-challenged at best, but I always enjoy Girhan's columns. She can really turn a phrase and explain the importance of clothing. She deserves the prize.

Kudos to the WaPo staff. Joel, your time will come. We've just got tho get the team (Hal, Sidney, et. al.) behind you. Let us know if we can lend any assistance.

No, really. I'm serious.

I think what's being overlooked here about Cheney's manner of dress is that he doesn't give a dam what anyone thinks. He's right. He'll always be right.

Even if 82% of Americans don't agree.

TBG, *you're* right.

bc

If I don't know what pasties are, does that make me a nerd? Or not a nerd?
(Hypothetically, I mean.)

[This comment was self-copy-edited.]

[How'd I do?]

Here you go Tom fan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasties

I had a friend in college who owned a pair that had tassles. We all tried them on and attempted to swing the tassles around in circles.

I guess *that's* why none of us ever became an exotic dancer.

Ooooohhh, the boodle is becoming a little risque today (and believe it or not, I just typed "booble.")

Good grief -- I think someone's going to have to pass this nerd the smelling salts.

Tom Fan: Good Morning! You've introduced a learning opportunity! Cornish Pasties are delicious turnover-style pies that are filled with meat, potatoes, and onions. They're sometimes also known as shepard's pies.

The Other Pasties are a particular kind of wearing apparel that, um, exotic dancers wear to allow "gentlemen's club" owners to qualify for a liquor license in certain jurisdictions. Since they have no visible straps or other visible means of support (to borrow a phrase), they require (I suppose) the use of some kind of cubitous adhesive. Hence the name, Pasties.

*whew*

I'm going back to work now.

in DC pasties are optional. So are "panties". Only two things are required: Shoes (for health code reasons ("snicker*)) and a garter (for holding the money).

back to work for me as well,,,

SCC: ERROR! ERROR! In my previous post, I used the word "cubitous." I don't know what I was thinking. I am in grave need of an editor. The word I meant to use was "Epidermal," "pertaining to the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin."

Thank you for your kind attention and continued cooperation.

CowTown - What's "cubitous?"

In CT, full-on nudity and the possession of a liquor license must be mutually exclusive. Hence, the popularity of "juice bars" with obvious names like "Juicy's".

Pasty's always seemed a little silly to me. As far as naughty parts go, the nipple is pretty PG-13, no? I mean, can any part of the anatomy that guys have too really be that risque? And how come a woman's nipples are naughty, but I can brazenly flaunt mine on any public beach like tawdry trollop?

And what if I took a picture of my nipple, and photoshopped it onto a picture of a woman. Would my nipple become naughty by association?

Nipple is a funny word.

Ah. There it is. Thanks. I thought we had a word for the day there.

Bayou Self: Just see my 10:20 AM post. It explains everything.

My apologies to everyone. [Whipping self with USB cable]

CowTown - Don't damage the cable.

Nice to see we've gone from congratulating the Pulitzer winners to discussing pasties in about 72 posts.

I'm heading off to Iron Mountain, Michigan, next week, to bring enlightenment and planetary sciences to the Upper Midwest. And while I'm there, I'll be enjoying the warmth and comfort-foodiness of pasties (pronounced with a nasal "ah", as in "back"), not the naughtiness of pasties (pronounced with an "ay" as in "Gators"). I'm told that they were brought to the area by Cornish and Welsh miners, who emigrated to the Upper Peninsula (the Yoo-pee) to work the iron mines back in the 19th century. There's a pretty good pasty carryout just down the road from the hotel where I expect that I'll be staying. I'll be getting some o' them, you betcha. They're a pretty good deal, y'know. For sure.

A marvelous bit of archaeology in Marquette, on the northern shore of the U.P., is the pair of disused ore-loaders still sticking out into Superior from the shore. They are weird and mysterious, giant rusting hulks in the morning mist. Nothing but birds uses them, now. Birds, and presumably the zebra mussels glued to the pilings.

"Sticking out" and "stickin gout" look so similar, yet sound so different. I just noticed that.

yeah, I sure wouldn't like to see Dick wearing any kind of pie, meat-filled or otherwise.

About the shoes, I once took a toe jam culture as part of a micology project. Whoever wrote the health code must have tried the same experiment. It was my most beautiful petri dish by far, with the most colorful colonies in the most textures.

Does anyone know how painful a bone graft may be? I'm having one at 2pm.

Bayou Self, perhaps you were thinking of "cutaneous" when you typed "cubitous." Anyway: dang! I thought I was learning a new word about adhesives. Maybe it SHOULD be a word.

Wow, bea, good luck with the bone graft. Is this a graft of solid tissue, or a transplant of marrow? I understand that the marrow transplant is more uncomfortable on the donor than the recipient (who has more significant things to be concenred with, in any case). For a graft of solid bone, I'd guess that you will "experience some discomfort" for the next week or so, as the medical-types say. However uncomfortable it may be, I expect it's better than the alternatives that you rejected. Good luck.

"I am Cubitous of the Borg Collective. Resistance is futile."

It could also be pointed out that pasties date back to the early days of stripping. But before then, and this is another verifiable fact, ecdysiasts used flags during their performances. They announced the removal of garments by first waving various flags with colors and shapes on them. This also led to the waving about of the bra or similar undergarment, in a flag-waving fashion after its removal, thus announcing that the breasts were now available for viewing.

The performers also used the flags to send messages to the DJ, such as "No more Aerosmith, please." And they might also use the flags to send messages to other strippers, such as "Hey Muffy, you're supposed to be on stage 2," or "Hey Tiffany, I think a few of your dollar bills may have slipped out of your garter over here."

It was a colorful time in stripping history. But it ultimately gave way to see-through flags and, in the interest of preventing injury to performers and customers — and to make room for an enhancement known as a "pole" — the flags were removed from performances.

They were later put to use in the mass-transit industry.

TBG's Cheney-is-always-right/85%-of-people-don't-agree comment reminds me of a quote I'd wanted to post a few weeks back but didn't have access to. My sea freight has now arrived, so I've got my beloved books, including "Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown," by Michael Shermer. In the Introduction, Shermer describes the "Lake Wobegon effect":

"In recent decades experimental psychologists have discovered a number of cognitive biases that interfere with our understanding of ourselves and our world. The self-serving bias, for example, dictates that we tend to see ourselves in a more positive light than others see us: national surveys show that most businesspeople believe they are more moral than other businesspeople. In one College Entrance Examination Board survey of 829,000 high school seniors, 0 percent rated themselves below average in 'ability to get along with others,' while 60 percent put themselves in the top 10 percent. This is also called the 'Lake Wobegon effect,' after the mythical town where everyone is above average. Lake Wobegon exists in the spiritual realm as well. According to a 1997 U.S. News and World Report study on who Americans believe are most likely to go to heaven, for example, 60 percent chose Princess Diana, 65 percent thought Michael Jordan, 79 percent selected Mother Teresa, and, at 87 percent, the person most likely to go to heaven was the survey taker!"

[I think that last sentence could use some additional copy editing.]

Oh, a word of the day ...

Main Entry: ec·dys·i·ast
Pronunciation: ek-'di-zE-"ast, -E-&st
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek ekdysIs
: STRIPTEASER

Because today IS the 18th of April, and it has been 100 years ---

The Damndest Finest Ruins

Put me somewhere west of East Street, where there’s nothing left but dust,
And the boys are all abustling, and everything’s gone bust;
And where the buildings that are standing sort of blink and blindly stare
At the damndest finest ruins every gazed on anywhere.

Bully ruins, brick and wall, through the night I’ve heard you call,
Sort of sorry for each other, cause you had to burn and fall;
From the Ferry to Van Ness, you’re a God-forsaken mess,
But you’re the damndest finest ruins, nothing more or nothing less.

And the rubes who come a rubbering and hunting souvenirs,
And the fools who try to tell us it’ll take a hundred years
Before we’ve even started and why don’t we come and live
And build our homes in OAKLAND, on the land they’ve got to give.

Got to give – why believe me! On my soul, I would rather bore a hole
And live right in those ashes than go to the Oakland mole;
And if they’d all give me my pick of their buildings fine and slick,
In those damndest, finest ruins, I would rather be a brick.

Larry Harris
After the San Francisco earthquake, October 1906

Cubitous (or Cubitus) is available for a limited time as a Boodle handle. Just send $19.95 (no coupons, please) to CowTown, c/o The Washington Post.

A real pastie would never have carrots in it, only turnips. There is a list of the proper ingredients in one of my cookbooks at home. I have no idea what sources they cite. Tim, if you have one for dinner, can you make note of the indredients for me?

When people ask me about my many cookbooks, I look at them blankly and reply, "Cook from them? You can do that?". Mine seem to be reserved for reading only.

Earthquakes, bone grafts . . .
If not for the pasty talk, I'd be feeling pretty bad about my out-of-order 'boodling right about now.

I will post a new kit later this morning, toward lunchtime....about 1906...

About winning Pulitzers: I used to think, back in my brash youth, that I would surely win a P at some point. But in my maturity I realize the odds against that are long, especially since it would first require writing something worthy of being nominated in the first place, and there is, as yet, no category for Distinguished Drivel.

This is what I love about the Boodle: from Pulitzers to pasties in a single bound. It's the superhero of blog comment sections.

md, I have to disagree with you on whether Robin Givhan's criticisms are shallow. I am not a fashionable guy, and I agree that the vast majority of effort in fashion appears to be shallow and silly. However, that's true of practically anything, so why single out fashion for insult?

What Givhan gets into with her criticism is the semiotics of clothing. Every single thing that you do in life is telegraphing the nature of some choice that you made. Among the most obvious and personal of choices is what clothing do you choose to own compared to your means, and what clothing do you choose to wear on particular occasions. If you choose to wear rags, it says something about how you see your role in an event.

A poor person wearing worn and patched clothing to a dignified public gathering may be wearing the finest clothes he has, and showing the utmost respect for the occasion. A rich person wearing the exact same clothes shows that he has no respect for the occasion, because he has the means to obtain and to wear clothing that reflects the elegant or dignified character of an event, but has deemed the event to be unworthy of making that level of effort. Effort that, for the wealthy person, is trivial, but for the poor person, may be monumental. It's the thought that counts.

At a commemoration of the dead of Auschwitz, there is a continuum from the sober and understated attire worn by the European heads of state, to a neo-Nazi skinhead wearing nothing but a swastika tattoo. Each form of attire sends a message, carefully crafted by the wearer. Cheney was, obviously, much closer to the sober attire end of the continuum. Cheney's clothes sent the message "This is pretty sad, I suppose, but I don't especially care. This doesn't concern me all that much." If it were you or me, we'd wear what we have in the closet, and it would be enough. For Cheney, for a politician, the symbol is a conscious message that he always has the means to create. His aides could have rousted a haberdasher out of bed and gotten practically anything that they needed -- heck, had something flown in from Paris -- if it had occurred to them that a commemoration of Auschwitz is a significant event. That's what her critique was about, because it obviously did not occur to Cheney that the event was worthy of his effort.

Good morning, everyone.

First, let me congratulate Joel for being the first person I've ever heard the phrase "you'll get what's coming to you" directed towards, and meant in a GOOD way.

Cassandra, if you're going to see if you have insurance coverage for the damage you'll have to report it to your insurer right away, and you'll need your police file number. Damage like that is often not worth claiming, unfortunately, due to deductibles.

a bea c, I guess it depends on what you're grafting to the bone. A rose bush? That would be kind of cool (but probably painful). I would say that "toe jam culture" would make a good handle, but I think it makes a better name for a band.

SciTim, my grandfather (the Lusitania one) worked in the mines around Ishpeming, Michigan early in the 20th C. No pasty stories (of either kind).

There, I think I'm all caught up.

Joel, thank you for the Steve Fainaru link. My nightly Rosary tonight will be for our soldiers in Irag and their families.

Congratulations on the Pulitzers! The Washington Post has the best writers in the country! Joel, make a space available on the mantle for yours.

We're leaving this week for Florida. Sara said she has finals this week, but is available next week for the jw/Sara combined Achenboodleweddingshower. I won't be here for awhile after today, so Achenfan/Tom fan/Dreamer, can you kind of get things started? Gifts will be anything the boodlers think will make Sara and jw happy. (Sara, I'll post my chicken and dumplings recipe after we get settled in Fla.)

Hey Mudge, "Since I Don't Have You" is the second greatest doo-wop song ever. Picture this: Late night, 4 young men, pale pink shirts, collars turned up, low-riding black jeans, ducktails combed just so, standing under a streetlight harmonizing "Since I Met You Baby (My whole Life has Changed and Everybody Tells me That I am not the Same"). That actually happened 100 yrs. ago on Roslyn Street. A serenade to my older sister.

Bayou, great story. My favourite stripping/flag story relates to the famous signal sent up in the Burlesque Palace in 1948, when the joint was nearly over-run with customers: "Big Joey expects every girl to do her duty"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/us/18quake.html?

On 100th anniversary, San Francisco celebrates quake survivors (even if they were just shy of being in utero)...
(excerpt)

Ms. Norwood, as her age suggests, is a special case. She counts herself as a survivor even though she had not been conceived at the time of the earthquake; that blessed event happened days after, when her parents were huddled in a refugee camp in Golden Gate Park.

"My father said it was cold that night," Ms. Norwood said.

Such details, of course, are middling considering the scope of this year's commemoration, which has included package deals at hotels and spas, earthquake cocktails at bars, and exhaustive coverage by the city's news media. All of it has tried to strike a balance between a celebration and a sobering realization that, given the geology of San Francisco, a similar disaster could happen at any time.

Indeed, even as civic leaders gathered Monday night for a lavish ball at the Palace Hotel (complete with period costumes and Enrico Caruso look-alikes), geophysicists were meeting here to begin what was being billed as the biggest earthquake conference ever, concerned with the probability of — and preparation for — another Big One.
***

I include the paragraph about the Palace Hotel form today's NYT article, since it was the residence for a time of Mrs. George Loomis after her husband's death in 1894. I found the story of this particular Loomis on the weekend--a "lost" story, one that I couldn't tease out of the Loomis genealogy tome, given the very brief information within about George Loomis of San Francisco. The Palace Hotel survived the quake, but was lost to the fires that engulfed San Francisco after the quake. I'm not sure when the Palace Hotel was rebuilt.
***

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake, I was reviewing material about the history of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Insurance yesterday and its huge payouts to the 1906 quake victims, since Morgan Gardner Bulkeley (Baseball Hall of Fame), a Loomis descendant, was Aetna's president at that time.

During my Google searches yesterday (I made a mistake by typing Loomis and San Francisco earthquake into Google, rather than Bulkeley and San Francisco earthquake), I inadvertently found a recent offering on eBay, a business card that belonged to Mrs. George Loomis of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, that was offered by a Florida antiques dealer and that sold at the end of March for $3.99. This prompted me to seach further on George Loomis--since I was unaware of his place on our family tree and his life's story, to find your (Mark Heiman's) web posting about his early days in Northfield, Minn., as well as an article by David Baker of the San Francisco Chronicle, dated Oct. 20, 2004, about the 125th anniversary of Chevron Texaco that mentioned that George Loomis was one of the co-founders of the Pacific Oil Co., the firm eventually taken over by Standard Oil of Ohio, to become Standard Oil of California.

On the trail of black gold
ChevronTexaco's history is marked by guts, glory and conflict. The company celebrates its 125th anniversary today.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/20/BUGPQ9CAGD22.DTL

Also:
In 1894, the Pacific Coast Oil Company and the Union Oil Company partnered to build the first true oil tanker on the Pacific Ocean. Named the George Loomis, its maiden voyage departed Ventura, California in January, 1896, and a new era was born.

What the family tree does turn up...

Nani, It's good to see you! Good luck with your move.

I think you need to write a book about your sister. It would be well-written, interesting and full of love.

Joel - While it's surely a longshot for any individual journalist to win a Pulitzer, please don't give up the dream. They gave one to Dave Barry, back in the day, so hope should spring eternal.

In fact, they gave it to Barry a long time ago, before we had the modern marvels of communication that we have today. So the members of the Pulitzer Prize committee back then used to announce the winners by using colorful flags, waved from the Columbia University windows.

Ha! The NYT article is starting to get interesting:

Finding the right tone for the anniversary has largely fallen to Charlotte Mailliard Shultz, the chief of protocol for the City of San Francisco and the State of California, who also is chairwoman of San Francisco Rising, the official centennial organizer.

Ms. Shultz said the anniversary offered an unusual opportunity both to commemorate the past and educate the current generation. As such, San Francisco Rising has distributed tens of thousands of pamphlets on earthquake safety and emergency response strategies, and has set up a preparedness Web site, www.72hours.org, which refers to how long a person might have to survive without help in a major quake.

But Ms. Shultz also agreed that the centennial had offered San Franciscans, who had largely rebuilt their city by 1909, a chance to party.
***

NYT, Aug. 17, 1997
George P. Shultz, Charlotte Swig

Charlotte Mailliard Swig, San Francisco's chief of protocol, and George Pratt Shultz [Loomis Chaffee grad], the former Secretary of State, were married Friday evening in San Francisco. Bishop William E. Swing of the Episcopal Diocese of California performed the ceremony at Grace Cathedral.

Mrs. Shultz, 63, is also the director of special events for the City and County of San Francisco, and is the president of the board of the War Memorial Performing Arts Center in San Francisco. She is a member of the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet.

The bride is a principal in the Swig Investment Company, a real estate concern. She is a general partner in the Mailliard Ranch in Yorkville, Calif.

She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and from University of Texas at Austin. She is the daughter of Martha Morgan Smith of Borger, Tex., and the late Charles Samuel Smith Jr., who owned and managed Smith's, a general store in Borger. [A Texan!!!]
***

The NYT 100th anniversary earthquake feature story ends humorously:

Ms. Norwood, the 99-year-old, has become friendly with Mr. Hamrol, and both were on hand Monday afternoon at John's Grill, which dates to 1908 and has been playing host to an anniversary lunch for survivors for 15 years.

They and a dozen others took questions, including the predictable queries about their longevity.

"I just tell them sex, and that usually ends the questions," Ms. Norwood said.

If only men lasted as long...

Nani, all the best for your move to Florida.
I'll see what I can do to get the Achenboodleweddingshower rolling next week. (Given that I'm not the girliest of girls, and was likely a man for a majority of my past lives, I may need to enlist the help of the more-womanly Brittney "Cummerbund" Molly Smith.)

Tim, the thought did cross my mind. It should have been easy enough to find something more appropriate for the VP to wear.

A secret service coat on loan? Maybe it should be a requirement that at least one other person in the detail needs to wear the right size.

I await the new kit. My cdrom National Geographic's article on the 1906 earthquake is one of the peices I have read. It's always interesting reading stuff written long ago in its original form. Writing styles have really changed.

Bayou,

Thanks for the historical perspective on pasties.

And TBG, you should have practiced more. Really talented ecdysiasts can make the tassles spin in oppostie directions.

So I'm told.

Linda, can you imagine plunking down $800,000 for a "starter" home that could be shaken into splinters inside any two minutes? I LOVE to visit San Francisco, used to hitchhike there during my hippie college years, but I could never live there. It's weird, but earthquakes never really scared me in LA, I guess because it was so flat and there were fewer things to fall on you.

And before the boodle decamps to a new kit, I want to congratulate Robin Givens on her Pulitzer. I loved her in "Head of the Class", but thought she was just an actor playing a gifted high school student and had no idea she was such talented writer. Thank goodness she got rid of that Tyson jerk and went on with her life. I just don't know when she finds time for fashion writing between her eight performances a week in "Chicago"

Givhan?

Oh.

Nevermind.

yello...

How did you like Julia Roberts on Broadway?

The show was excellent. I will be making at least two blog entries this week about it complete with pictures.

I suppose if anyone were to move to San Fransisco, they may as well buy a split-level house to begin with because thats how it's going to end up in the long run.

With a "detached" garage and "walk-in" closets, no doubt.

And lots of skylights. Many, many skylights.

Y'know the Texas rolling blackouts and the new high in per barrel oil prices have one thing in common:

It appears that a majority of Americans have no interest or inclination to conserve energy.

Although I concede that the temperatures are unseasonably warm in Texas, almost 20 degrees F higher than normal this time of year, it seems perplexing to me that ERCOT would not be aware of the potential for catastrophe and plan accordingly. After all, weather reports are available, well....everywhere.

Light, sweet crude is up because there has been *no drop in the demand* for gasoline. No one is voluntarily driving or using less, it seems. Additionally, the Federal Government has messed up somewhat (CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/18/news/economy/gas_prices_ethanol/index.htm?cnn=yes) which didn't help matters any.

Americans either don't understand basic Economics 101 re: supply and demand or they don't care. If it's the latter, then I really must weep at our cluelessness and sense of entitlement.

If things get as hot & dry and has been forecast this summer, I predict more rolling blackouts and higher at-pump prices.

NO AMOUNT of money could move me to settle on the landfill parts of San Francisco. The habitat on those portions, post-next-quake, would then be suitable for Jacques Cousteau. Or your entire residence could be turned into a giant salty swimming pool or aquatic park.

Cowtown, you were a hippie? Did you hitchhike Highway 1 or 101? When you ended up in S.F, how did you spend your time?

Where did I read over the weekend that low income apartment dwellers are being forced out, many through eviction notices, and when they resettle, it's not in San Francisco. San Francisco increasingly becomes an enclave for the well-heeled. But the views!

My cousin left Daly City shortly after--and because of-- Loma Prieta and got such a great house in Salem, Oregon, for such a sweet price. Thgings went great for a while, but after a decade or so, her hubbby lost his job in high-tech and never found equivalent work in Oregon's capitol city. The marriage broke up, etc.

Amo - I heard that a couple of power plants are down for maintenance somewhere. Then the unseasonably warm temperatures came along.

amo,
You're right on the money. Temperatures here are significantly above normal and have been through the fall and winter. ERCOT *did fail* yesterday, citing the fact that at this time of year many power stations are down for maintenance. Why don't they do maintenance in late February or March? We in Texas we warned in the paper today that there may be more rolling blackouts this afternoon and evening.

Since I squueze in Boodling between yardwork and my husband's bricklaying, I do want to say that we have great shade in our backyard. We never turned on the AC yesterday once we did come inside, rather closing all blinds and relying on the ceiling fans, rotating as fast as their fours arms allow.

Home heating/cooling energy costs are higher here, but what we most notice this year is the cost increase for water. I most often ask, "What is the ultimate carrying capacity of our underground Edwards Aquifer?" as city council approves subdivision after subdivison to be built over it, thereby increasing the chances of it being polluted and decreasing drainage because of increasing land cover-over.

Don't know that others locally are cutting back on energy use or gasoline consumption, or that they care. Our hot-button issue here is whether to implement toll roads for major thoroughfares. It's not so much a question of whether--locals would like a vote on the subject--but when.

ERCOT should have been better prepared yesterday, so should New Orleans last summer, or as San Francisco should be in the event of another major earthshake. But it just doesn't happen, does it--good anticipation of needs during worst-case scenarios?

First order of business:

dolphin michael -- I thank you so much for accepting all my young nieces and nephews-- those already born and those pre-conceived (I love it!)into the EH school.

Peeps of course! But I'm surprised that you don't require the mandatory testing; allowing your staff to determine if the child has enough athletic ability to run and dodge, to shove the other kidlets aside, and to hold onto the eggs.

That you have granted my family access to your great academy without meeting the parents is an act of great trust.

Thank you, thank you!!!

ScienceTim -- I've always found shipwrecks, big ones, to be kinda spooky --behemoths jutting out of the water, morning mists rolling around them like ghosts all aflutter. Enjoy your visit!

Nani -- I'm not up on your move to Florida. My folks built a house in Vero Beach in '04.

They had been living on a boat (big boat). My mother loved being a boat-person so much she was unsure how she would adjust to land life again.

Hurricane Frances made the move to land a bit easier by removing the boat option alltogether. It was destroyed.

Three weeks after Frances, they moved into their brand new home. Three days later, Jeanne came ashore at the same place where Frances had.

Their house didn't suffer any damage, but it was a heck of an introduction to life in Florida.

But they love it. They have a beautiful home, it's warm, the quality of the light is fantastic.

So Nani, have an excellent move and I hope you and Mr. Nani enjoy Florida as much as my folks do.

Loomis, are environmental impact studies done before the subdivisions are approved? Your answers might be there. Aquifers are tricky--building above them might be fine, but a subdivision 5 miles away might be a concern. Groundwater follows the strata, so without a geologic survey it's impossible to tell how a development might affect an aquifer just by looking at its location.

New kit up.

Dick Cheney, what to make of the guy?

I know he has a heart condition -- maybe some of the other people at the Auschwitz memorial have medical conditions also?

There are high-tech types of clothing for cold weather. Thin layers of silk, thinsulates, etc. that can be worn under suits and such. They are very warm.

Cheney was probably sporting a bullet-proof vest at the Auschwitz memorial -- but these too can be covered with fashionable clothing.

No one has mentioned the hat he was wearing -- a knit cap with a Bush/Cheney 2000 slogan on it.

He looked as though he was giving a big, fat finger to the world.

I'm glad Givhan took him to task.

I've decided to break up my posts into smaller multiple posts -- other boodlers might actually read them this way!

Also, different posts for different subjects.

Some old business: SonofCarl -- you asked me many kits ago what I thought of Diamond's discussion about the Anasazi in his book Collapse.

I haven't read the book. Guess I'll have to go to the library now and get it.

I can't buy any more books. No more room at the inn. But we do have a decent little library down here.

I apologize for the typos that must be rife through my postings today. I'm at a friend's house -- her computer is veerrry sloooww. I type, and every few minutes, the words appear on the screen. I know I missed some of the mistakes.

cheers to all -- looking forward to a new kit!

Bayou,

That may be true but that alone wouldn't do it. Seeing as I work for a power plant here in Florida, I know that when our plant goes down for routine maintenance in the Spring (it's down now), we have to plan for this because the demand for energy doesn't go away. We choose the Spring & Fall when demand for power is *less than* what it would be in Summer & Winter (and therefore easier to manage/purchase our needs and less impact on the consumer). We must buy power on the spot market in sufficient quantities to meet demand. This is planned in the annual budget for the year and rate increases may be enacted to offset a higher than expected demand for power. Usually we can see several months out at a time, and can adjust accordingly.

If their plants are down, then they are most likely buying on the spot market, probably from power providers (IOUs or QFs) which means this was a planning error. They should be able to buy whatever they need to fill the demand and adjust the rates later to compensate when demand drops, ie, the Fall.

But IIRC, these high temperatures were predicted to happen this year. Recently, I saw a bulletin stating an alert for high heat and drought conditions for Florida this year; I can only imagine what Texas may have gotten. When we got our bulletin, certain changes were effective immediately in terms of conservation.

Texas, by the by, is on a grid independent of the East & West coasts - each have their own interstate-connected grids.

http://www.harc.edu/download/Power_Guide.pdf

(Take a look at page 6 of the Texas Power Guide -Texas uses more power than any other state in the US).

They state they are practicing DSM (Demand Side Management) which states they must enact conservation measures and efficiency improvements prior to building more plants. They have also stated that there is a need for additional power generating stations.

We feel their pain down here in Florida; we're trying to decide what to do about our owns needs. At current consumption patterns, demand will oustrip supply needs in about 5 years or so.

That would be when the fun begins.

Robin Givhan a pulitzer? You're kidding me, right?

Congrats to The Post.

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